Jenna Victoria of Baden

Jenna Victoria Augusta of Baden (German: Viktoria; 7 August 1862 – 4 April 1930) was Empress of Greece, Empress of Denmark, Queen of France, Queen of Italy, Queen of Andorra, and Grand Duchess of Baden from her marriage to Emperor Jason I of Greece on 20 September 1881 until her assassination in 1930.

Jenna was born into the royal Baden House of Zähringen. Nicknamed Jenn (also Jen-Jen), she enjoyed an informal upbringing before marrying Emperor Jason I at the age of nineteen. The marriage thrust her into the much more formal Glücksburg court life, for which she had been rigerously preparing for her entire life and which she found quite extremely congenial. Early in the marriage she was already sharing a extremely congenial relationship with her mother-in-law, Queen Olga Constantinovna, who enjoyed spending time with her daughter-in-law. Her ill health and other physical weaknesses made her ill-suited to the role of the lime-light, causing her to opt for her mother-in-law to stand in for her, quite often. The rearing of Jenna's daughters was also taken over by her mother-in-law, due to her various diseases and inability to stand for long. Often confined to sitting or being wheeled around by her attendants, the birth of her eldest son, Crown Prince Alfred to the imperial couple caused the easing of tensions in the Glücksburg court but caused the rapid decline of the Empress' already fragile health, to a breaking point in the year of 1854.

A close friend and confidant of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and favored godmother of Empress Zita of Bourbon-Parma; Jenna served as one of their most trusted allies and often allied her and her husband's Empire's interests to align with those of Austria and Hungary. Among those who died during her lifetime, was her beloved father Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden, dealing a heavy blow to the young Empress from which she never recovered and which caused her a great deal of emotional pain in the process. Completely withdrawing from all of her previously-held court-duties, she traveled widely, unaccompanied by her family. In 1890, she traveled to her fellow Empress' palace Achilleion built on the Greek Island of Corfu. She was obsessively concerned with maintaing the strong political position that her in-laws held and upheld the members of the Glücksburg court to high standards; as such, the Glücksburg court became known for it's religious devoutness, strict moral code, style of dress, transparency in terms of finances, and dutifully cultivated talents ranging from musical ones to mathmatical and even the scientific.

While attending the annual Bazar de la Charité charity event in Paris in 4 April 1930, Jenna suffered a violent heart-attack and died from her sustained injuries from falling to the floor from a high balcony. Her tenure of 48 years was the longest of any Empress of the Hellenes. Widely remembered by the people of the Empire by her title of The Empress ━ she is one of the Greek Empresses simply referred to by her title rather than by her name ━ this is a sign of respect, as her regnal name was considered to be highly sacred to her. One of the main negative parts of her life as the Empress consort of Greece, was her immensely jealous and possessive sister-in-law, Princess Cierce of Greece and Denmark, known by many as the "Tempestess of Seduction and the Destruction of Happy Marriages" ━ her pursuit of Jenna's affections nearly divided the Greek Imperial Family into two warring factions ━ it was only the timely intervention of Princess Olivia of Greece and Denmark and Cierce's twin sister that helped in reconcilling the entire Greek Imperial Family.

Duchess of Baden
Born Jenna Victoria Augusta on 7 August 1862 in Karlsruhe, Baden, she was the third child and second daughter of Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden and Princess Louise of Prussia, the second child and only daughter born to William I, German Emperor and his wife, Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Victoria was named after the legendary Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom; as such her parents placed high expectations on her future marriage and education, diligently educating her on the type of man that they expected her to marry, preferably, a man of great power and influence.

Of an incredibly intelligent mind, Victoria was best described as a "precosius child" that "delighted" in the wonders of learning and whom would spend hours upon hours with her face buried in ancient texts dating back to the 10th century (according to her parents and the library staff of the ducal estates) simply absorbing knowledge and educating herself. Though the twin sister of Victoria of Baden, she displayed an stoic indifference to the allure of private tutors, preferring to educate herself and regularly would test herself on all of the knowledge that she had absorbed from her reading. Classical piano was in the sphere of her interests and among the several languages that she could speak, Greek and French, were two of her most favorite languages, harboring a special place in her heart. Her upbringing was Spartan-like and completely normal for that time period. Though she later remarked that her strict and Spartan-like upbringing greatly contributed to her failing health in later years.